Just about every Marvel fan knows Hank McCoy, the Beast, as one of the founding members of the X-Men and a mainstay on the team, thanks in large part to his role as one of the core cast members of the classic '90s X-Men cartoon as well as actor Kelsey Grammer's brief but beloved turn as the character in X-Men: The Last Stand.
But Beast's comic book history goes much deeper than that, with strong ties to the Avengers, the Defenders, and even the Illuminati, as well as his own legacy as a solo hero. And in recent years, he's tragically edged further and further toward villainy.
